Are you trying to find that perfect gift for an SLP grad? And have you asked your graduate what speech therapists need? And gotten this response? "Mom, my degree is in Communication Disorders and I'm an SLP, not a speech therapist, because the L is for Language which I will work with but no one knows that, AND the P is for Pathologist and I'm definitely using that after surviving grad school. Oh, but first I'll be a CF - that's a Clinical Fellow - because I have to be supervised by a mentoring SLP my first year". And all you really want is a simple answer but now you're very confused.

Another item that I've been using for years is a set of printable checklists. Teachers see me in the hallway and remember that they have a student - or two or five - that they want me to listen to. I'm not going to remember a hallway chat. But I can give teachers these checklists for PK, Kg, 1st and 2nd grades. They are a starting point for me and allow me to document requests, conversations and follow-up. The checklists are our best-selling items, and all four now come in a money-saving bundle! Just buy on TpT, download, and print!

Several years ago, a wonderful principal gave me a box of sticky notes in assorted sizes. It was one of my favorite gifts ever. SLPs will be using big sticky notes for lists, medium sticky notes for notes, and flag sticky notes for signatures. Trust me - your grad can never have too many sticky notes!

SLPs need bags. Lots of bags, and good bags. Enter 31 Bags. I have been at a Head Start where three of us had the same bag - the utility tote! It's sturdy, holds test kits and lots of materials, and they are really cute! (Especially with monograms).

For some bling, let's talk lanyards. Origami Owl lets you choose your own charms, and there are quite a few for SLPs! The picture shows my necklace with the autism heart, I Love You in sign language, apple, and lips. Other possibilities are the To Go Coffee Cup and school bus charms. You could also buy crystals in school colors or look at the animal charms for mascots.

For even more ideas, click on the links below! And for SLPs linking up - post about 5-7 gifts ideas you think a new SLP should have and use the graphic above and link back to this post - thanks!

Oh my word! Is your April crazy, too? All I want to do is take a nap every afternoon. But there are deadlines to meet, my untrained dog who gets off the leash, and allergies. So I hope you will forgive me for re-using one of my freebies that was in a blog hop. If you already have it, great! If not, it's designed for easy prep AND included a homework sheet! Here you go - Multiple Meanings for Spring {Freebie}!

So says an organizational expert out district brought in several years ago. This has shaped my own spring cleaning when packing up my office. It's easy to throw everything into boxes. I've done that. But now, I use the expert's advice when boxing up my materials so it makes more sense in the fall. All three projects are ones I did in the spring that helped me set up in August, and I hope they help your own frenzied SLP life!

Tip #1: Make Your Books Easy to Reach

I'm a lucky girl. I have a LOT of books. My sister Amy is a librarian, and not only has she contributed to my collection, I'm borrowing the books she gave to my own children until they need them again. Plus, our PTA lets me buy $50 worth of books at both the spring and fall fairs! I tried sorting them by author's last name, but I couldn't remember them all. Amy came to the rescue. Now, my books are sorted by author's last name on the first two rows and by season/holiday on the third row. Works like a charm!

Tip #2: Keep Your Materials Within Easy Reach, Too

Another great organizational tip - keep what you use the most within 1 reach - just grab it. Lesser used items are 2-reach - inside a cabinet - the 2 reaches are opening the door and reaching inside. Rarely used items should be 3+ reaches - open the cabinet, look way in the back, and move stuff to get to it.

My card decks are 1-reach. When I saw that Super Duper Inc. kept their cards on display with binder rings, I knew that would work well for keeping the cards in order. A bonus? Now I just reach in the slot and pull out what I need - a 1-step approach vs. 2-step in opening the container, shaking out the cards, sorting them back... I used 2-inch binder rings but I think 1-inch would work better. I also used the automated hole puncher to save time. It went through about 4-5 cards at a time. The first three rows are artic cards and the last two rows have language cards. I did have more, but I really cleaned them out. A simple display and clear protectors with labels make for fast retrieval when every minute of therapy counts!

Tip #3:Keep Your Test Ducks In a Row

I have a confession. I was embarrassed by a CF who mentioned that her college supervisor would have been all over her for not knowing where the yellow duck from the PLS-5 was during test administration. I agreed with her while silently wondering where my own duck was! I got a few clear containers - easy to see what's inside - and gathered all the items I would need for the PLS-5. Everything went into a snazzy 31 Bag. The manipulatives are never separated. I loan out the whole bag, not parts. The PLS-5 manuals even fit inside, and the zipper zips!

All three projects took time to set up, but they have definitely saved more time in the long run!

The 2 Facts and A Fib Blog Hop was so much fun! I loved learning more about everyone, and I hope you enjoyed it, too. Kelly from Speech2U was the mastermind behind the idea, so be sure to visit her site! And now…..

A) My brush with fame - Vivian Baker, the mother of George Eads (actor from CSI) was my principal and then superintendent. This is a FACT! Dr. Baker was the first principal who actually observed me doing therapy. She is a smart tough cookie, and I learned so much from her.

B) On the way to TSHA, my co-workers and I were talking instead of following directions. I drove right through Dallas and had to turn around to get to the hotel and convention center. This was before Siri. This is the FIB! Although this is something I would be likely to do, I actually ended up right at the Dallas hotel with no U turns! (The fib is based on a true-life story involving Amy, and if you ask nicely, she might tell you how she ended up in the concierge room.)

C) I literally dropped out of ski school, or I guess dropped down, when I fainted. And - I wasn't the only one in my family to get altitude sickness! FACT! We thought it would be a good family trip, skiing. We signed up for ski school. Two people in the class got sick. Then, I fainted - and while my husband was taking care of me, he looked up to see my daughter fainting. Next time, I'll keep the table in the lodge or warm up hot chocolate in the cabin.

So… did you guess everyone's fibs? Be sure to find out if you are the winner of the $50 Amazon gift card at Speech Universe!

We are very excited to team up with Angie from Lucky Little Learners and Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd for a fabulous Linky Series! On the 2nd of every month, we will participate in this "virtual team meeting." Amy, Laura, and I feel very honored to have been asked by these two amazing educators. :)

April topic: SCHEDULES

I honestly have a love/hate relationship with schedules. (Probably because I'm always running behind. Yes... I'm that teacher) Schedules and routines are an extremely important part of our day. The kids thrive on routines and it keeps me from pulling my hair out. Here is where the hate part of my relationship with schedules come in.... I tend to become side tracked and dig deeper on certain topics with my kiddos and lose track of time. I've learned that I have to set my timer on my phone to keep me on time. Here's what my classroom schedule looks like:

7:55 to 8:15 - Breakfast in the classroom and Binder Time
8:15 to 9:00 Greeting, Morning Message, Daily Dish, Calendar, and Music & Movement
9:00 to 11:25 ELAR, Writing, Literacy Stations, and alternate Social Studies and Science during this time
11:25 to 12:10 Conference
12:10 to 12:35 Read Aloud
12:35 to 1:20 Lunch and Recess
1:20 to 2:40 Math
2:40 to 3:05 RTI
3:05 to 3:10 Clean Up
3:10 Dismissal

Binder Time: Throughout the year, we have added numerous pages to our binders. This a time for my kiddos to practice their letters, cvc words, high frequency words, numbers, addition, subtraction, etc... It's a great review time. Currently, our favorite binder page is HeidiSongs' Loose Tooth Subtraction.

Daily Dish: I came across this idea from Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade. My kiddos love Daily Dish and it's a great way to practice editing and sentence structure.

Music & Movement: I love starting the morning with Youtube and songs. There are countless videos that just make my job so much easier. Harry Kindergarten is our favorite! This is also a time where we do a few GoNoodle songs to start our day on a positive note. Who doesn't want to start their day with a mini dance party?!?!

Reading Block: Our school has adopted Reading Street as our curriculum. While I do like the weekly stories, questions/videos of the week, I am not a fan of their phonics section. So, I use various materials from tpt and blogs to enhance the phonics portion. This could be a entire blog post by itself so I'm just going to share a few things...
Some of my favorite ELAR tools/websites include:Reading A-Z TPTOriental Trading (This is where I get most of my reading pointers, etc...)

Read Aloud:
Currently we are reading Kid President's book. My kids LOVE him and so do I! We learn about 5 rules a day. Afterwards, we'll usually watch one of his pep talks. :)

Math: Once again, this could be another individual blog post. We use GoMath. However, I feel the need to add my own spin on it. Here's a few places I look:

RTI: I'm very fortunate at my school to have a designated RTI time. A couple of days a week, our paraprofessionals will come in and take our Tier 1 kiddos to another room and work on a project. This gives me time to work with my Tier 2 and Tier 3 kiddos. I usually have one group working on stations while the other group is working with me.